East Los Angeles Rolls Behind Strong Defensive Performance
Huskies stepped onto the court with a game plan in mind and determined to defeat the guest team Pasadena-Lancers. Huskies stuck to the game plan and broke and shut down key Lancer players to take a 25-20, 25-20, 22-25, and 25-23).
Determined to maintain its fight for a strong South Coast Conference (SCC) finish, the Huskies set a season in various categories. Five of the six starting athletes finished with season highs in last night’s contest.
Season highs:
Vanessa Gutierrez, setter had 24 assist kills and 12 digs. Second setter, Angela Carrasco posted 24 kills, 10 digs, and 2 service aces as well as the winning point in set four with an attack pass into the deep 1 corner leaving the Lancers stunned. Breanna Trujillo nailed 16 kills, 12 digs, and 1 service ace, Mia Madott cranked down 19 kills, 12 digs, 1 block, and 1 service, and Eriazmin Mauries stapled 15 kills, 12 digs, 1 block, and 1 service ace to assist in the valiant win over the Lancers.
Alexis Salazar hit 5 kills, and 2 digs, while Yeketrina Makarova nailed 2 kills, 1 dig, and 2 blocks, and Jenifer Martinez added 4 digs and 1 service ace to highlight the night.
At the start of the evening, the Huskies passed 85% of serve receive balls to the target which enabled them to run multiple and continuous offenses for the evening. The Huskies cranked down 48.99% of its attacks and 84% of its serves aiding in controlling the game tempo and rhythm after a series of consecutive passes and a stream of consistent sets. The Huskies perfected the slide attack cranking down 16 of its 55 kills for the evening.
On fire, the middle hitters moved with ease to help set up the attack for the outside hitters. The one-on-one match ups proved a little too much for the Lancers resulting in 5 substitutions. In the first round of play, the Lancers relied heavily on Chy'annea Hodges (15) who posted 15 kills was denied. Chy'annea Hodges had 2 kills for the evening and was pulled out of the game. Lancers relied on Lahiz Longobardi (3) 5 kills and 5 digs. Michelle Boyd (13) another key player felt the pressure as the Huskies went at her attacking and serving the surrounding areas. Eventually, she was replaced with another player who appeared just as rattled.
The Huskies crew confident and poised firing on all cells, striking the Lancers defense, and defendingits side of the net. On the evening, the Huskies had 27 impressive transition dig-kill attacks, out blockedthe Lancers 6-1, and had a 0.489 hitting percent compared to the Lancers (0.215) hitting percent.
Coach Walker commented, “This is an excellent group of young ladies that have found themselves, andbelieve in what they are being taught. They put in a great deal of work to rise to meet the expectations ofthe program as well as their personal goals. Tonight’s performance was a good example of teamdiscipline, mental and skill training, and game execution. I am proud of how these ladies are playingduring the second half of the season!”
A fan commented to another guest, “Wow!, I have watched these girls all season and they continue to amaze me with their performance”.
The Huskies look forward to its quest to move into a 3rd place position as they move on to Friday night’s(November 7, 2014) contest versus the Falcons of Cerritos College in an away match at 6PM.